Everything went so wrong so fast.
The 17-year-old high school junior had just finished homecoming weekend. His football team won the big game. He and his beautiful date and their large circle of friends had a great time at the Saturday night dance. Sunday was a day of resting and relaxing and getting ready for the rest of first semester.
Then, Monday morning happened.
The football playing high school junior and his sister lived with their mother in a nice three-bedroom house. The trio had lived together since their parents had divorced three years ago. Since the two high school kids did not have a great relationship with their father they preferred to spend all of their time with their mother. That seemed to be the best plan anyway. The dad had remarried and had adopted his second wife’s two teenagers.
On that Monday morning, however, everything that had seemed to be going so well changed. After coming down stairs from showering, the junior in high school thought that the kitchen seemed a little too quiet. It was. It turns out his mother had suffered a heart attack after the daughter left early for school. In her collapse the 47-year old mother of two hit her head on the kitchen counter. Even when the ambulance arrived she could not be revived.
And that is how the two teenagers ended up moving back in with their father, his new wife, and two other teenagers they hardly knew. With nowhere else to go they had no other option. The young man struggled through his last year and a half of high school and looked forward to moving into the college dorm.
Once in college, the freshman in college began drinking. Whether his poor choices were a result of having the freedom of college, losing his mother, or a worsening relationship with his father, it was difficult to determine, but for whatever the reason the drinking started that first semester away from home. First a little at the weekend fraternity parties. The drinking increased as the first semester progressed. He had always been a good student so even though the nights kept getting longer and the mornings arrived all too soon, he had initially been able to stay caught up on his classes. By the time spring break rolled around, however, his grades were slipping in the drinking was becoming even more frequent.
While his friends were deciding what to move home from the dorm and what to leave in storage, he, instead, found himself trying to figure out what to take to rehab. His father, of course, tried to convince him that he was lucky. Instead of moving into an alcohol addiction treatment center after a second minor in possession charge, his dad told him he could be in jail, or worse yet, in a body bag following a crash that totaled his car, but spared his life.
Statistics Indicate That Addiction Is a Problem for Many Young Adults
Studies show young people between the ages of 15 are 24 are more likely to experience mental illness and substance use disorders than other age groups. Additionally, males have higher rates of addiction than females. Women, on the other hand, have higher rates of mood and anxiety disorders.
When addictions to alcohol and drugs become so serious that they are interrupting other areas of life, families often have no other option than to seek help through an alcohol addiction treatment facility. Professional drug rehabilitation centers can often help families solve problems that otherwise could become worse, or even deadly. Inpatient drug rehab centers provide a staff of certified doctors and counselors who provide a safe environment for patients who need to break the cycle of addictive behaviors.
Alcohol Addiction Treatment Options Provide Family Support as Well as Patient Care
The best alcohol addiction treatments are programs that provide support to both patients and their families. These centers make sure that parents and other family members understand and support the therapeutic approaches that are being used to help the patient. Drug and alcohol withdrawal symptoms, for example, can be difficult and it is important that family and friend members understand the stages the patient is going through.
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